The First Word: Say A Little Prayer

On this day — does a religious revival in Houston signal an increasing interest by Perry in the presidency; the House prepares to vote on a school finance proposal and teachers groups promise a large rally against the proposed cuts; the Chronicle’s Nick Anderson cartoons about John Edwards love child; Sen. Wendy Davis gets profiled in ‘The Clips;’ and in ‘EXTRA!,’ how tax cuts became GOP orthodoxy.

“Given the trials that beset our nation and the world, from the global economic downturn to natural disasters, the lingering danger of terrorism and continued debasement of our culture, I believe it is time to convene the leaders from each of our United States in a day of prayer and fasting,” Perry said in the letter.

Such an event would allow Perry to build his profile with Christian conservatives, a group that play a key role in Republican primary politics, especially in the South and the Midwest. The playbill for the call to prayer hits all of the notes that a candidate seeking the GOP nomination would be expected to hit (see: debasement of society). And the venue selection — Reliant Stadium (a football stadium) — indicates that organizers are aiming to make a splash with the event. Again, quoting from Slater’s story:

East Texas evangelical leader and Perry supporter Rick Scarborough said the governor has support among religious conservatives, an important constituency in picking the GOP nominee.

“Once the word gets out that he’s doing this, evangelicals and anybody with the same moral perspective will be on his bandwagon,” Scarborough, president of Vision America, said, referring to the Houston event.

House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, said he understands the concern about school budget cuts.

“This is a work in progress. We continue to see what we can do to fund public schools,” Pitts said after the protesters chanted noisily outside his committee room.

For the first time in modern history, the state is not adding funding for the additional 170,000 students expected to enter public schools over the next two years. In fact, the proposal cuts money for school districts by $4 billion over the next two years from what they would get under current law.

Below the fold — a cartoon by Nick Anderson, Patti Hart on how this education deal wouldn’t have flown under Bob Bullock’s leadership; and in ‘EXTRA!,’ remembering the start of the HIV epidemic, 30 years later

Some suggest it was a final hurrah for a Democrat angry over her party’s increasing ineffectiveness in a Legislature run by Republicans — and the recent GOP-led redistricting that severely threatens her reelection. They say if a special session moves the ball on school funding at all, it will be minimal, and instead opens the door for Perry’s other priorities, including the “sanctuary cities” immigration measure Senate Democrats successfully fended off during the regular session. And even if nothing changes with the school finance plan, they argue, at least parents, teachers and school districts will have the opportunity to challenge it.

“There’s a false bravado there — and no end game,” said Bill Hammond, a former Republican legislator and president of the Texas Association of Business. “Once the people realize what she has wrought, they’ll see the folly in her efforts.”

But others say it’s a watershed moment for a rising political star, who gave new life to disheartened Democrats with her efforts to derail a fly-by-night school finance plan, and lit up the Twittersphere with speculation about a Wendy Davis run for “U.S. Senate/Governor/President/Queen of the Universe/Whatever She Wants.” They argue laying the blame for a special session on Davis is ridiculous, because Perry already intended to call one for windstorm insurance and congressional redistricting.

“This decision to filibuster, and the visibility and scrutiny it will bring along with it, will give people the opportunity to really see her credentials,” said Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. “There’s no question she’s articulate and well-educated, but now she’s also perceived as gutsy.”

The GOP leadership has downplayed the impact of this change, arguing that lawmakers have always made public schools a priority. But the very reason this school finance bill is necessary is to free the state from owing about $4 billion under current formulas.

To some, including Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, this is sound policy. Last week, he called the school finance proposal “a true cut in an entitlement.”

Note the use of that dirty word — entitlement — as if public education is some kind of welfare, not the underpinning of democracy envisioned by Thomas Jefferson.

This school finance bill is a tipping point for the Texas public education system. If the state’s obligation to local schools is no longer carved in statute, public education funding becomes vulnerable to last-minute budget balancing by 10 lawmakers on a conference committee. If they decide to trim a couple of billion from education, the other 171 members of the Legislature have little voice.

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***EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

-The Washington Post looks at how cutting taxes became even more important than balancing the budget in mainstream Republican circles.

The tapestry of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has changed dramatically since that first report, and in the United States at least, doctors and patients have begun to consider HIV infection a chronic condition instead of a death sentence. More than 30 drugs are available to treat HIV infection, and those drugs in most people can almost completely suppress the virus to the point that it’s virtually undetectable in the blood.

The development of antiretroviral drugs completely turned around the AIDS epidemic in the United States. The worst of the illness is now in Africa, where roughly two-thirds of the world’s HIV cases are located.

Much recent research into the epidemic has turned toward prevention, with several major successes reported in recent years, doctors and patient advocates say. In the United States, there’s a new, sometimes-reluctant sense of optimism and anticipation, they say. There is serious talk about ending the epidemic in the not-too-distant future.

- Gawker reports that an Oklahoma family shot-up with meth during a get-together in the back of their car and that their daughter died from an overdose stemming from the drug usage. The mother and her boyfriend have been convicted of various charges stemming from the incident.